The Nashville Sound: Country Music’s Golden Era (Proper Records)

FROM 1955 to 1962 a new sound was emerging in Nashville with new-style recording techniques and experimentation in production and this release focuses on many of the artists that were in their prime at the time.

This was also the time that Nashville became the centre of the country music universe with music producers like Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley taking the helm.

This four-set compilation contains no fewer than 100 hundred tracks (25 on each disc) capturing an era that gave country a newer audience and artists who would never be forgotten.

Each CD is individually titled: Disc One, Four Walls; Disc Two, I Fall To Pieces; Disc Three, Lonesome Number One; and Disc Four, She Thinks I still Care. From the opening track of Disc One and Eddy Arnold’s Cattle Call through to the dying strains of Brenda Lee’s All Alone Am I, the listener is treated to some of the country greats of the time.

The boxed package includes a 32-page illustrated booklet of facts about the Nashville Sound and the artists, accompanied by rare photographs. It is a delightful reminder of the way it was.

It has to be a good contender for the best compilation release of the year.